Air travel ticket and accomodation--- Ticket to prosperity

"I read your column regularly. But, I don’t know whether I have any skill that will help my in becoming self-employed. Perhaps, my fate is that I must be an employee in this XYZ travel company for an eternity," Vidya said. "If you have knowledge and will, you can always change your destiny and fate. If you look inside yourself and change things that ought to be changed, you can become the master of your life," I told Vidya and continued. "If you have ever gone for employment, you have a saleable skill. A skill, whatever its level, got you the job. If an employer does not derive benefits by employing you, then why would he employ you and pay you every month? You earn money in the form of salary from one employer because you have a skill that is useful to your present employer. Using the same skill, can’t you receive money as income from many customers? Will it not have multiplier effect on your income? Do you think it is impossible to do it?"

After a few moments of silence Vidya replied, "Perhaps it is possible. But I am not sure…" I told her, "I will tell you the success story of Barbara, a good friend of mine."

Barbara Whiteman was an assistant in an international school in London. Though she always wanted to pass the registration examination and obtain Registered Teacher License, her family commitments made it a distant dream. Her work involved receiving students and their parents, briefing them about the procedure and helping them in finding suitable accommodation. She worked for four hours in the mornings.

Every day there would be some confusion as hotels and airlines were not in the students’ or Barbara’s control. There would be frequent changes in plans due to unexpected developments. Invariably there would be unnecessary expenditure. Though Barbara really wished everything should go as planned, in real world such wishes were seldom fulfilled.

Barbara never thought such a fugitive wish had the power to make her financially independent.
She lived in Eastham, a budget residential area in London. On a December evening, when she was returning home by walk, she met Rajesh. He was standing on footpath with a travel bag and fear in his eyes. On seeing Barbara, he approached her and said, "Good evening. Do you have a moment, please?"

"Yes?" Barbara said and got ready to handle any unpleasant situation. She knew that Eastham was not a pedestrian friendly area at evenings and late nights.

"I am a doctor from India. I came to London to take up medical registration exam. My friend used to live in this area. I came to stay with him. But, now I learn that he is not living here anymore. I’ve been standing here for more than an hour. I don’t know what to do. I tried to find out a budget accommodation. But I’m unable to find any in this busy season. Do you have any idea that will solve my problem?" Rajesh asked her.

Barbara smiled and said, "I think I can help you." She called a few numbers on her mobile phone and fixed an accommodation within two minutes. She arranged for a cab to pick Rajesh from the place where they were standing. Then, she told him, "Don’t worry. A cab will be here within 3 minutes. I’ve booked a room for a week. If you don’t like the place, give me a call." She gave him her number. Rajesh was relieved and thanked her again and again. Even before he could finish his finest thanksgiving speech, a cab came to pick him up. Suddenly, Rajesh opened his wallet and pulled out 50 Euros - that’s lots of money - and pushed it into her hands and said, "Thank you. You are a professional travel planner." Then he got into the cab and disappeared.

Professional Travel Planner!

Would there not be thousands of people like Rajesh? If each of them paid her 50 Euros, how much she would earn? Suddenly waves and waves of energy began to enter her.

As soon as she reached her house, she began to research the web for information on travel planning. She got hundreds of useful websites and details about many software products. She particularly liked a Travel Plan software tool. The price was 50 Euros. Barbara was thrilled and ordered it. Within a fortnight, she launched her part time business as a travel planner.

She knew she would not be able to compete with tourist operators. So, she decided to specialize in making travel arrangements for small business persons and students. She had contact details of hundreds of students who had left the school. After taking permission from the school principal, she sent snail mails and emails to all of them.

Most of them remembered Barbara as she was the first person to receive them in London. Within a month she began to get regular business. Many hotels and airlines offered her referral fees.

She needed only 15 clients a month to match her salary. When she began to earn more than her salary, she quit the job. Now, she is studying for her teacher registration exam. Once she is a teacher, she’ll sell her business for a big sum.

"Give me three months and I will be on my own," Vidya said with a big, confident smile. Her eyes dazzled with new light. I smiled.

I am looking forward to write about her success story in this column next year.